


Breaking Through

by thegreatwordologist



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU, Chat needs comfort, Evil!Emilie Agreste, F/M, Family Issues, Friends to Lovers, Hugs and Cuddles, tags will be added as needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 04:39:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14686665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegreatwordologist/pseuds/thegreatwordologist
Summary: Just when Adrien thinks his dad is really starting to see him, the connection between them seems to slam down harder than ever.  Shaken and confused, Adrien escapes into Chat Noir, and finds himself seeking out Marinette.  Perhaps she can help him, since he just can't go to his Lady about these new troubles.





	Breaking Through

Chat Noir wasn't surprised when his leaps through the city led him to Marinette's balcony. He couldn't imagine anyone better to talk to after such a disastrous day, after all. Marinette was always ready to jump up to help anyone she knew, even if she couldn't really talk to Adrien. He just hoped that she would be able to help him figure out what to do about his father the way she'd listened to him about Ladybug.

"Chat?" Marinette's voice floated from her bedroom after a moment, and she peeked out of the skylight that offered her access to her rooftop balcony. Chat raised an arm, then swept into a bow that hopefully was showy enough to conceal the troubled expression he couldn't quite wipe from his face. "Why are you here?"

Oddly, the words weren't anxious. Her voice was soft, not strident, and when he straightened from his bow, he saw the worry in her eyes. He swallowed.

"You're not in danger, Princess. Don't worry," he murmured, offering a one-shouldered shrug as he attempted to smile at her. It was a bit of a relief, talking to Marinette instead of Ladybug sometimes. With Ladybug, he'd set himself a reputation, and to keep her from worrying, he had to live up to it. Most of the time, it came as naturally as breathing. But sometimes, like today, even that face was a mask. With Marinette, things were quieter, and somehow more honest. 

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him briefly, then nodded her head once. "I'll be right back," she informed him softly. "Have a seat if you like." As she turned back to her skylight, she nodded to the chaise longue in the corner. And then she was gone, and Chat drifted toward the seat with a frown.

Unreasonably, he felt abandoned. Marinette fled from Adrien, but not from Chat Noir! Marinette couldn't talk to Adrien, but she'd been nice enough to make time for him before. Had he misjudged? He sank onto the seat, laying back to stare up at the stars as his thoughts chased their tails in his mind, pulling him deeper and deeper into his insecurity. Buried so deep in his own head, the touch of small soft hands against his startled him. Jerking up, he stared at Marinette with blank eyes as she smiled gently back at him.

"Sorry to bother you," she murmured, for all the world as though it was his balcony and not hers. "I just... you looked like you could maybe use a warm drink?" She leaned over to the table for a moment, then straightened again as her eyes dropped to her hands, and he followed her look to see a mug of hot cocoa cupped in hands held toward him.

"Oh. I..." He looked back up at her, and her smile grew impossibly warmer. "I didn't mean to cause trouble, Princess..."

"Nonsense," Marinette cut him off. "It's the least I can do for you," she continued, once she knew he wasn't going to interrupt her. "After all, you save Paris on a regular basis. Paris can help you once in a while, right?" She hesitated, then moved to drop gracefully to the concrete next to the chaise, and Chat almost leapt to his feet. 

"You should sit here, Princess," he insisted anxiously, reaching out to curl one hand around her wrist and tugging gently. She frowned at him, but let him pull her to her feet so that he could guide her to sit down on the lounging chair. 

"You're my guest, Chat," she noted, brows furrowed as she stared up at him.

His response was accompanied by a lopsided smile. "But you're my Princess," he murmured, hesitating before moving to sit on the part of the chair that extended from her feet. His eyes dropped to his mug as he drank a sip.

"Your princess, hmm?" Marinette whispered softly, an odd note to her voice that Chat couldn't quite place. He looked back at her, trying to fight down the anxiety that suffused him with her words. The fact that he couldn't tell whether the dusting of pink on her cheeks was annoyance or pleasure at the possessive words didn't help matters.

"Unless it bothers you?" he asked, trying for diffidence and only managing a pout. He grimaced. He was off his game, and he had to get a handle on it before he went crazy trying to hide everything.

"Chat, what's really wrong?" Marinette asked, rather than answering his question. She reached out, laying one slender hand on his arm, and he just stared into those worried bluebell eyes in stunned wonder. "Chat?" she prompted again, pushing at his arm a bit. He came back to himself and blushed under his mask, reaching up to scratch the back of his head awkwardly.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I just... I'm not used to..."

When he trailed off, Marinette frowned. "Not used to what, Chat? Have I done something wrong?"

His head jerked around, bittersweet thoughts derailed by her worry. "No, Princess," he said tightly, shaking her hand off of his arm as he reached to grab it. Within a thought, he'd set his mug down on the ground beside the chair so that he could twist to face her properly, taking both of her hands in his. "No, you've never done anything wrong! I just... don't know how to answer your question without bothering you."

Marinette's lips thinned, and this time the frustration was obvious enough for Chat to read it clearly. "Chat, I already told you, you're not...." Her tone, scolding him for worrying about something so silly, took him aback, and he withdrew sharply. Marinette's eyes widened, her voice softening as she finished her thought. "...a bother. Chat?" Realizing that rather than setting his fears to rest, she'd only stirred them up, she tugged at his hands. He looked back at her just in time to realize that she was shifting in the chair, and then her arms were around him in a loose hug, and Chat exhaled shakily, trembling at the sheer warmth of her arms.

"Will you tell me the answer even if you think it'll bother me?" she asked, finally, tucking her cheek against his shoulder. His arms curled around her finally, and it was all he could do not to cling to her. 

"No one's ever done this for me, before," he whispered, dropping his forehead to her shoulder.

"Done what?" she asked in confusion, and he swallowed.

"...Listened to me like this," he finally admitted, the words dragged from his throat. 

"...Ladybug?" Her whisper sounded odd, rather like she'd been half-strangled, but she didn't turn her face toward him, and he didn't push it. He wasn't sure he could handle answering if he had to look into her eyes at the same time.

"...I can't tell her," he admitted softly. "She might... she might decide that I'm too weak to help her." He shuddered in Marinette's arms, and she tightened her hug in response. His arms tightened as hers did.

"I'm sure she'd never think that," she tried to assure him, but he shook his head, the shaggy silk of his hairs tickling her neck.

"I _can't_ , Marinette," he insisted, and she fell silent. He finally started to pull back, lifting his head to look at her. Though his mask hid most of the skin around his eyes, she could still tell he'd cried at least a little in her arms. When she lifted a hand to cup his cheek, he held still, his eyes solemn and worn down. "I... I'm sorry," he whispered finally. "I didn't mean to dump any of this on you. I've just never had anyone to listen to me." He quirked his lips in what he hoped was a wry smile. "I'll go."

"You have someone now," she said, catching his wrist in slender fingers and holding tight. When he looked back, he saw warmth and compassion, and a pained smile on her lips. "You... don't have to go."

The gentleness in her eyes stopped him cold. "Princess..."

"Let me help. Please?" she whispered, and he held still, fighting the urge to fall back into her arms again. That taste of comfort had been intoxicating.

"Because of Paris?" he asked, wary and awkward and almost desperate for something he didn't fully understand.

"No," she shook her head. "Because... you're my friend." He took a shaky breath, then nodded, and when she tugged him down toward her, he didn't fight the pull.

 

The chair wasn't really designed for two people to lay on, they quickly learned. For a few moments, they were an awkward twist of limbs and angles before Marinette finally pulled herself up from the chair, pushing at Chat's shoulders when he moved to follow her. "Get comfortable," she directed, setting their mugs on the table nearby. 

Chat tried. He really did, until he saw her start to move to the skylight again, and two steps was all it took for him to almost bounce to his feet. "Princess..."

"I'm coming right back." She looked over her shoulder at him, and the impatient insistence in her eyes took his breath away all over again. 

"Then where are you going?" he asked, moving toward her. He saw her sigh in frustration before she turned to face him. 

"I'm a little cold up here, honestly," she admitted. "And it seemed like you could use a bit more than five minutes of cuddling, so I thought you could get comfortable, and I could get a blanket, and then when I came back, I would lay down with you and I wouldn't be a popsicle." Chat was silently happy that her face dusted just as pink as his at her mention of _laying down_ with him.

"Oh," he whispered, dry-mouthed and unable to tear his eyes from her. For a few silent seconds, their gazes held, and then she laughed softly. 

"So go get comfortable, okay? I'd like to get warm sometime tonight, my prince." Eyes twinkling at his sudden silence, Marinette disappeared down into her room. Chat sank back down against the chair, staring back up at the stars as he thought about her last words to him. 

"Don't move," she directed, as she emerged from the skylight once more, carrying a thick quilt with her. Chat held his breath as she tucked the blanket around him, his eyes tugged from the stars to study her pink cheeks, and the way her eyes would glance at him only to flutter away anxiously. When the blanket was finally draped over him in a manner she liked, she hesitated, and he could understand perfectly. The moment held a sudden, terrifying intimacy to it that closed his throat, and he finally drew the blanket back just enough to make the silent invitation clear. She swallowed, nodded, and slipped under the blanket to lay down curled against him, and he curled his arm around her waist.

Somehow, the position felt terrifyingly _right_. 

As her cheek nestled against his shoulder, she closed her eyes. "Will you tell me what happened today to upset you so much?" The murmured request left him shaken, because he wanted to. He wanted to tell her everything.

"I... can't be specific," he cautioned, and she nodded, her breath wafting against his neck. 

"No, I know. But it would help to talk about it, no? Be vague. That's just fine. It's just...I'd like to help. I don't like seeing you so torn up," she admitted. Her arms curled a little tighter around him, and he squeezed her in comfort. Could he do this?

Better question: could he avoid it? Already, the words were crowding his throat.

"Have you ever had someone you love... no, never mind. You wouldn't have," he stopped himself, wincing.

"Wouldn't have what, Chat?" Marinette whispered, and even though he couldn't see her face in their position, he could hear the compassionate look she was offering him.

"...It's my father," he found himself admitting softly. "I don't know what to make of him." He reached out with the arm not curled around her to lace their fingers together, and he brought her hand up so that he could kiss it. Somehow, the gesture felt good, and right, and more comforting than he could possibly explain. He heard her squeak and ignored it. It was easier if he tried to pretend that he wasn't soaking in her comforting embrace. "Sometimes, he gives me these hints that he cares, that things are going to be all right after all these years. And then he just... sweeps the rug out from under me again when I finally think there's some chance that we can maybe be a real family."

"Oh, Chat," she whispered, and he didn't have to see the glitter on her cheeks to know she was crying for him. Her voice was thick and damp with the tears. The thought that he had made his princess cry was a horrible guilt weighing him down... but it also somehow buoyed him up. Had anyone ever cried for him before? In that moment, he couldn't think of a single person.

He twisted on the chaise, and she nestled closer to his chest. They lay together, pressed flush as she nestled her eyes against the crook of his neck, shaking delicately. "What happened?" she managed after a few moments.

He opened his mouth, expecting his voice to go all shaky and childish, but somehow, her tears steadied him. "My mother disappeared when I was young." He paused, then growled at himself softly. "She's probably dead, honestly. I mean... we don't _know_ but let's be honest, right?" He wasn't entirely sure he managed to hide the way his attempt at honesty flayed him. "I mean, I barely even remember her. I have pictures, but no one talks about her." Once the explanation started, it seemed to flow from him like the Seine. "She was famous for... never mind. She was famous. I thought maybe in my civilian life I could try doing what she used to do. I went to Father and..." His voice broke, and he growled again in guttural frustration.

"He shut you down," Marinette finished softly. She'd lifted her face finally, staring up at Chat. Chat glanced back down at her, taking in the too-bright eyes, and the way her cheeks looked in the moonlight, still damp from her sympathy. 

"Yeah," he whispered, releasing her hand to brush his fingers against the lingering evidence. Despite the innocent blushing only a few moments ago, she remained still under his touch. Her cheeks stayed pale, and her eyes never left his. They almost glowed in the darkness. "Marinette," he whispered softly, her name a question and entreaty all at once. 

"I'm here, Chat," she promised, earning a shaky breath from him. "I'll always be here for you," she continued the promise, without a moment's hesitation. And in the silence on the rooftop, he found himself able to believe her.

He finally turned his eyes back up to the skies. "I don't know how you do it, Princess," he finally muttered, more to himself than actually to her. 

"Simple," she answered, her voice just a touch too muted to be as cheeky as she'd clearly been aiming for. Instead, her voice came out a little breathy and warm. "I care about you."

"How do you have any room left in that heart of yours?" he whispered. "I've never met anyone like you before." She shivered in his arms, and he felt it, pulling back just a little. "You're getting cold, aren't you?" he asked, tucking the blanket tightly around her. "Even with this."

"I'm not," she started to respond, but he cut her off before she could get more than a few words out.

"Of course you are," he said. As he focused on her instead of himself, he felt a strange calm settle over him. It was so much easier to focus when he could give her the attention she clearly deserved. "You said it earlier, but I was too selfish to insist you go inside. I'm so sorry, Princess."

"Chat," she started again, only to still as he reached up to cup her cheek. Her eyes flared wide, and she inhaled shakily.

"No wonder Ladybug was so protective of you." He leaned in, pressing his lips to her cheek almost too lightly to be felt. "May I come back soon?"

"You're leaving?" Marinette asked, her brows furrowed and an oddly betrayed look in her eyes. She nuzzled the cheek he hadn't kissed into his palm, and felt him shiver a little. 

"I think it would be best," Chat admitted softly, starting to withdraw from her. She stopped him long enough to catch his wrist with her hands and guide his hand to her lips. He stared as she kissed the back of his hand delicately, and then he swallowed, trying to drag his attention back to what he was saying. "I... this is overwhelming," he admitted softly. "I've never had anyone care about me like this." Marinette nodded, her skin brushing against his palm again, and he groaned faintly. "My Princess, may I come back?"

Somehow, his nickname for her had more weight than it had before. He tried not to think of the way her eyes flared wide at his soft request, and she nodded dumbly.

Despite the weight on his heart, Chat found a smile in her eyes, and offered it up to her. "Then I'll see you soon," he promised, finally rising to his feet. He stood there a moment, staring down at her as she lay against the chaise longue, still tucked under her blanket. Their eyes held for a final full minute before he turned and used his baton to propel himself over her balcony railing and off into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> After a really godawful year and entirely too much time spent away from writing, I dove into Miraculous Ladybug as a way to lift my spirits, and I found myself wanting to try my hand at some Marichat, since that particular pairing is my honest favorite of the whole square. What started as just a little impulse to write, however, blossomed into a whole Thing, thanks to [Mizyuuki256](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mizyuuki256). 
> 
> I have no idea how often I'm going to be able to update, but my goal is to work on this series at least a little everyday as I try to both find my ability to write again and get myself into decent writing habits. Please know that I have quite a bit of backstory, and quite a few plans, and while this story does deviate from canon, I'm doing my best to keep it as close to canon as possible within the confines of the universe backstory I've set up.
> 
> I'm posting this unbetaed, mostly because I'm a little afraid if I don't post it now, at 4:30 am after a sleepless night of misery and working on it, I'll end up throwing it away. Since it's unbetaed, if you see a mistake, _please_ let me know! I value constructive criticism and good grammar.
> 
> Finally, a note: I started watching Miraculous Ladybug to help me with my French classes, but English is my native language and I'm not remotely fluent in French. That being said, I shudder a bit whenever I see "Cat Noir", so he'll always be Chat to me, and I'm sure there are other small items like that in my story. If it bothers you, I'm sorry, but those sorts of choices are deliberate, and I won't change them. <3
> 
> Thank you for joining me on this journey.


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